Birth on the Daily
Jupiter teases members of four age groups, feeling they would undermine a project she's working on. They hire a shaman to curse her and make her go through the tribulations of each age group, and if she doesn't learn from them, will lose her youth and live out the remainder of her life as an old woman. Those involve get corrupted and intend to make sure Jupiter fails her mission. Cold Open Hanneke and Boris go over discipline. Both had delivered their own means on Selma and Jupiter and are awaiting the results. Boris chose to be firm to Selma and she responded by attacking him. Hanneke responded through kindness and Jupiter no longer takes her seriously. Plot Jupiter is working on a model car. Selma offers to help, but Jupiter dismisses her over the fact that she would fold under major demands. The teens come by and Jupiter dismisses them as well, likening them to their stereotypes, doing the same for the adults. Hurt over this, they decide to try and get back at her. They hear word of a shaman visiting town, but upon getting to him, find its a hoax. They come across an actual shaman, Moorest, and reveal what has happened. He goes to Jupiter under the guise he wants to do a magic trick for her, but Jupiter jokingly claims that he'd mess it up through senility. Moorest reveals his true form and challenges Jupiter to go through the tribulations of the age groups she mocked, where if she fails to repent she will lose her youth and live out the rest of her life as an old woman. The others wind up getting possessed by dissidents who want to make sure Jupiter completes her task with dishonest means. Jupiter's first trial involves her contending with a punishment. She is caught with a cigarette and is forced by Boris to smoke an entire carton; this coinciding with her telling Selma that she wouldn't react well to seemingly harsh demands. She is visited by Brianna and Monique who leave her tips on how to deal with her situation. In spite of skepticism, she goes through with it and words off Boris long enough for Hanneke to scold him. Completing the test, Jupiter moves on to the next. She is forcibly aged into a teenager and finds herself concerned with how she looks; going by her telling the teens that they'd focus more on minor things than the task at hand. Jupiter also comes to terms with physical oddities such as pimples and mental ones such as desires for love. She awkwardly inserts herself into a conversation on music, but doesn't know what's accepted nowadays. Adelaide and her friends arrive and offer Jupiter a list of what's in nowadays, teasing her over her supposed nobility. She tricks them into leaving the info as a test of restraint, but uses it the moment they leave. She catches on to a social stigma and understands why teens act the way they do, whether it be over social anxiety or a desire to deal with forced issues. Jupiter loses her outfit as she transitions into a young adult. She winds up at Burt's house and is given a spare outfit. Due to how old she has gotten, Boris insists she goes to find a job but she has no idea what she wants to pursue. Jupiter had claimed that young adults are more immature and desperate to hold onto their youth. She is greeted by Nika and other young mothers who give her listings for simple jobs and she becomes a referee at a basketball game. The experience makes her feel younger and she gives her pay to Boris and she finishes her test. For the last test, she becomes near-middle aged woman, living with a fake husband and dogs as a substitute for children. She is drained of any initiative and gets an irrational hatred for the younger folk, coinciding with what she accused those in the group of being. Martha offers to help her channel her hatred through a trip to the bar. Jupiter returns to Moorest, accomplishing all of her tests, but the people she encountered reveal she had gone by the tips and hadn't done the work herself (a setup to make sure she would fail by proxy.) Moorest forces her to take part in another challenge to redeem herself, which amounts to writing an essay. She barely passes and the others are banished to take part in a loathsome activity; going with Hanneke on a camping trip. The dissidents leave the bodies and they have no idea how they got where they are. Jupiter arrives and apologizes for what she told the others. She is forgiven as she is suffering along with them. Hanneke readies for a campfire song and everyone uses this as an opportunity to escape. Trivia * Debut of the official series. * One of two episodes to air in 1999. * While Moorest's name is mentioned in the episode, the credits list him as "shaman." * Only episode written by Strange to lack a co-writer. In general, this is one of two episodes written by one person, the other being Out Cold.